Community Gardening

A community garden is a single piece of land gardened by a group of people. The garden may consist of individual plots (sometimes called allotments) and/or areas that are gardened communally.

Many WIC members are interested in participating in community gardens, or at least finding out more. Such gardens provide an opportunity to share gardening knowledge and work in a sociable environment. It often leads to sharing seeds, produce and recipes - made all the more exciting when so many different ethnicities with our traditional plants and cuisines are working together!

We are most likely to maintain involvement in a community garden if it is close to where we live. There are a number of community gardens with membership open to the general public already in existence in Hamilton and many would welcome more members. There are also a number of groups considering starting community gardens in the area.

So that you can find out about the gardens already running that you may want to join and also to learn from their experiences, we are organising a Waikato Community Garden Network Meeting on the afternoon of Thursday 22 September in Frankton, Hamilton. More details will follow - watch this discussion page...

Some of the groups that joined WIC have their own land, and we are working one by one to help them develop their gardens. The first is in Tokoroa.

Most WIC members live in the Nawton area of Hamilton, where there is no existing community garden. The Salvation Army in nearby Grandview (where some of our Grow Your Own Vegetables From Seed workshops were held) was thinking about starting a community garden when we approached them about their land: we are now looking to work together on a joint community garden project - watch this space!

Photo: Katherine Hay of the Waikato Environment Centre talking about community gardens at our first WIC meeting. (Jovi, HMS)

There will be a meeting updating people who want to be involved in the Grandview Community Garden on Thursday 26 January 2012, at 5:30 pm at the (new) Salvation Army hall, 180 Grand View Road, Grandview.

Three concept plans will be presented, based on the feedback you gave at the first meeting, for us to discuss/develop our design from.

There has been much discussion about the Food Bill being considered by the NZ Government. If you, like me, wondered what the implications of the Food Bill might be for community gardens who sell surplus produce (either raw or made into products like chutneys and jams) to raise funds, there is a note on the parliamentary website which may be useful:

“Charitable purpose” or “personal development purpose”

The Bill as introduced provides an exemption from the requirement to operate under a registered food control plan or a national programme for persons not ordinarily in the business of trading in food but who, in general, organise or conduct “a community-based fund raising activity”.

The Select Committee has replaced this description with the expression “trades for a charitable purpose” and has recommended a definition of “charitable purpose” (which is based on the general charitable purpose in the law) as follows: “charitable purpose included every charitable purpose, whether it relates to the relief of poverty, the advancement of education or religion, or any other matter beneficial to the community”. The Select Committee has also recommended the same exemption for trading in food for personal development purposes which is defined as “a purpose that relates to the intellectual, emotional, physical, social, cultural or other personal development of a person or members of a group” (Part 2, Subpart 5, substituting Clause 94 and inserting New Section 24A

Cambridge Community Garden BBQ and Community Day 9am - 3pm Sunday 12 February 2012 (rain day 19 February 2012) Vogel Street, Cambridge - beside ResthavenCome along, enjoy some food, and meet some people involved in community gardening.

Help create a community garden! We welcome your ideas and help. No gardening experience required. Wear a hat, and if you have them, bring garden tools and spare plants. Children welcome.

The next Network meeting will be on Wednesday 14 March, 1-3 pm followed by afternoon tea. It will be held next to the site of the Grandview Community Garden: 180 Grand View Road, in the Salvation Army Hall. The meeting will be in the new hall, so follow the concrete path just beyond the old hall where we held the Community Garden Development Day (now an opp shop), and go past the office to the next building.

After feedback on the first meeting we have introduced a new format of five minute speed presentations open to anyone who attends. This format gives participants a brief ‘taster’ of what’s happening in the region. We realise this format forces presenters to prioritise the most important aspects of their project/work, but it allows more presenters to be part of the day and a wider variety of information is disseminated. The opportunity is given to participants who want more detail to connect and follow up with presenters during afternoon tea and following the forum, strengthening our regional network.

The meeting is open to anyone interested in Community Gardens.

Please contact Rangi if you have any questions on (07) 974-0201 or 021-214-2876.

A number of the Community Houses around Hamilton also have small vegetable gardens which local people are welcome to help care for and to take free fruit and vegetables from – they are listed on the community gardens list that you can download from an early posting.

In Nawton, the local Police Station has a garden that is producing vegetables that are planted as seedlings from Bunnings and Fraser High School.

Work on the Garden is completed by the Community itself and if any big jobs require attention youths with Community Work hours help out.

Produce can be taken for free by local residents (even when Paul Tierney, the Community Constable, is out): as a rule of thumb, only take what you need for your family, unless it is the last plant, don’t take more than half. If the garden looks dry (it won’t be today!), give the garden a watering before you leave. The address is: 100 Grandview Road, ph 846 3064 if you want more information.

The weekend of 24 - 25 March is Neighbours Day Aotearoa. This is a chance to get to know your neighbours, have fun and maybe share some gardening knowledge and resources.

If you’re a part of a group running a communal garden, Neighbours Day Aotearoa is an opportunity to invite the people who live around your garden site to have a look at what you are doing – perhaps you could host a shared picnic?

There are more ideas about how you can celebrate and invitations you can download for free at: http://neighboursday.org.nz/ (They are suggesting people might want to start a community garden)

They are also running a photograph competition and a story competition – you could win a camera or a years supply of tea!

Grandview Community Garden - Gardening!
When: Thursday March 29th from 3pm to 5pm and Saturday march 31st at 2pm
What: Gardening, clearing and tidying. We will plan the garden plots, where to put the water tank and tool shed.
Where: Come through the gate opposite 183 Grandview Rd and walk across the grass. Look for the WIC sign
Wear: shoes or boots, old clothes and a hat.
Bring: tools and a drink.
See you there!
Clare and Tim - WIC Community Garden Mentors - ph 021 0387623 021 2243109